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would be noticed, more
so than usual today. It was as though she knew she was being
watched, or she wanted to be watched.

    The males in the crowd
were certainly out to satisfy her desire to be seen. The way they
looked at her made Ixion’s blood burn. His fingers twitched against
the two blades strapped to his legs.

    Two young males at a stall
called her over, showing the fine pottery they were selling.
Another male at a stall opposite called to her too, holding up a
bolt of pure blue silk and smiling.

    Ixion stroked the blades,
picturing their quick deaths at his hands. He hated the lustful and
unabashed way they raked their eyes over Natalia, lingering on her
cleavage and daring to look into her eyes.

    Natalia shook her head and
moved on, her hips swaying enticingly with each step, drawing his
attention to only her, so much so that he started to forget to
focus on the crowd and look for danger.

    He was no better than
those males. Her sensual air and beauty had him lusting after her
too.

    No. It was more than
lust.

    But whatever it was, it
was pointless, just as the males attentions to her were. They could
compete for her attention all they wanted but in the end, she would
belong to none of them.

    Ixion watched her stop at
a stall with her two attendants. All three of them wore empire-line
dresses but the two attendants’ ones were noticeably different. The
material was poorer quality and made the fineness of Natalia’s
evident to everyone. The colour was also dull, the dark haired maid
in cream and the redhead in a pale green. Natalia wore sky
blue.

    It turned his
stomach.

    Sky blue would be the
colour she wore at her wedding.

    Her father’s conversation
with her came back and Ixion stared at Natalia, wondering who the
man she had blushed about was. Did she already have someone in
mind? Had other males been contacting her, males worthy of her love
and attention? That turned his stomach too. The whole affair made
him want to turn his back right now and walk away. Pride and duty
kept him still, forcing him to continue along a path that would
inevitably break his heart. It was a path that he had to tread. An
assassin had no right to desire or love a princess and it was time
that he realised that. His duty was everything. To turn his back on
it was to disgrace his family.

    She had moved on and he
was thankful that his men had followed, blending into the
crowd.

    Two older males at stalls
next to each other competed for her attention, offering her sweet
candy and sugary drinks. She took some from both of them. When her
dark haired attendant tried to pay, the men waved them away,
smiling and laughing.

    Did they think that giving
her free things would win her heart?

    Ixion’s jaw
ticked.

    If that were the case, he
would kill every suitor her father sent her way for her. It was the
only thing he knew how to do. He couldn’t offer her fine goods and
fancy delicacies. He could only kill.

    That was all that he was
good for.

    Natalia stopped at another
stall, this time managed by an older woman and selling jewellery.
The stones didn’t seem particularly expensive, nothing more than
cheap trinkets, but they excited Natalia and her two attendants.
The dark blue hangings on the stall were stitched with silver
stars, providing a beautiful backdrop for Natalia as she turned and
showed one necklace to her companions. A myriad of emotions crossed
her face as the bright sun made the deep purple heart-shaped stone
in the pendant sparkle. They fascinated him. He had rarely seen her
express her emotions and let them show. She looked at the tag on
the pendant and frowned when her attendant checked her purse.
Disappointment flitted across her face. Clearly she hadn’t expected
the festival to be so expensive.

    They moved on, heading
deep into the crowd where there was barely any room to walk and
away from the rooftop on which he stood. He couldn’t track her from
above anymore and he was growing tired of seeing the males